This award provides funding to extend the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) program for five additional years from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2013. Long-term time series like BATS and HOT are invaluable platforms for investigating temporal and spatial scales of ocean biogeochemical variability and relationships with the global carbon cycle. Moreover, they provide comprehensive datasets used to assess the behavior of biogeochemical and ecosystem models. Physical forcing of the upper ocean leads to significant variability in gross and net ecosystem productivity, net exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the ocean, and the distribution of many biologically important elements in the sea. The research goals of BATS has been, and continues to be, improving our understanding of the ?time-varying? components of the ocean carbon cycle, related biogenic elements of interest (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, silica), and identifying the relevant physical, chemical and ecosystem properties responsible for this variability. The objectives of BATS are to 1) document the temporal variability in nutrient cycles and biological communities; 2) quantify the role of ocean-atmosphere coupling and climate forcing on air-sea exchange of CO2, and carbon export to the ocean interior; 3) Study the role of physical forcing (e.g., surface fluxes of heat, freshwater and momentum) on planktonic community structure and function, including new and export productivity; 4) Study the role of climate-induced variability in surface fluxes on planktonic community structure and function and 5) provide a testbed for the introduction and validation of new oceanographic tools and technologies.
Ready access at the BATS station to North Atlantic oligotrophic gyre has allowed more than 120 scientists over the past 20 years to conduct small, independent projects of their own design in the context of a wider biogeochemical program and the rich historical context of the time-series dataset. Open data policies allow many more to explore BATS dataset for both research and educational purposes (from K12 to graduate). Many of the scientific questions asked at the time series stations have become even more relevant when considered on interannual to decadal timescales. These are the inherent time-scales of many of the natural modes of climate variability and the time-scale of anthropogenic change. To address these time-scales requires that we study the system consistently over such periods, much as the data from Hydrostation S and the Keeling Moana Loa atmospheric CO2 sampling have given us insights over the past 4 decades. The BATS time-series has opened the decadal window for the kinds of oceanographic and biogeochemical questions at the heart of future ocean programs. BATS is and will continue to be a significant community asset with broad value to oceanography and other disciplines.
Broader Impacts: The major achievements expected from this activity will be the wealth of hydrographic and biogeochemical data collected to provide a broad context for experimentally testing oceanographic paradigms and hypotheses, and 'ground-truthing' ocean carbon cycle models. In addition to the research conducted as part of the core program, a wide range of ancillary researchers have shared a mutualistic relationship with the BATS program; and all programs have benefited. The BATS program has a synergistic existence with the Hydrostation S and Ocean Flux Program (OFP) time-series studies also conducted near the BATS site. Each time series provides connected, but not overlapping data that contributes to a sum greater than the individual parts. BATS investigators will continue to be very active in many aspects of student mentorship, training and public outreach. BATS data and scientific understanding of the Sargasso Sea has been and will continue to be incorporated into newly developed undergraduate/graduate courses. Several course have laboratory components that make use of the research facilities at BIOS as well as short cruises on the R/V Atlantic Explorer to the Hydrostation S and BATS site. The oceanographic facilities at BIOS provide for the training of students and technicians and for collaborations with other researchers in a manner few other institutions can provide. Through hands-on laboratory, cruise and data synthesis activities, BATS will continue to directly aid the U.S. national effort to improve the understanding of the oceanic carbon cycle and the impact on global climate.
